Some 33 million tonnes of goods and 29 million passengers are transported annually by the rail transportation network, accounting for 9 percent and 11 percent of all transportation in Iran, respectively. In recent years the railways have undergone significant extensions including 1977 linking to the western railway system at the Turkish border, the 1993 opening of the Bandar Abbas line providing better access to the sea, and the 1996 opening of the Mashad–Sarakhs extension as part of the Silk Road railway to link to the landlocked Central Asian Countries.
Although railway electrification in Iran was started in 1975, it was halted for almost 30 years. A contract for electrification of the Tehran-Mashhad double-track line and the supply of 70 electric locomotives was awarded in 2009. Speeds of up to 200 km/h for locomotive-hauled passenger trains and 250 km/h for tilting EMUs are expected to reduce existing journey times of 7.5 to 12 to less than 5 hours.
Besides the expansion of the railways, the Iranian railway industry has been continuously developing concepts for its needs regarding train production since 1970.
Modern welding and joining technologies are inevitable processes for lighter and safer railways and trains in the future. The Iranian Welding and Joining Institute IWJI supports this industry by means of consulting and increasing the skills of the personnel in this field.